


The Living

by shifty_cat



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Makoto Niijima Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27344674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shifty_cat/pseuds/shifty_cat
Summary: After the party.Makoto Niijima Week day 6: Winter/Snow
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20
Collections: Makoto Niijima Week 2020





	The Living

"'...falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.'"

The party had been lovely, all of the Thieves, as well as most of Akira's Confidants (all of whom either knew or suspected who they were) gathered at Leblanc for a celebration both of Christmas and of one year since the fall of Yaldabaoth. With their guests gone, Makoto and Akira sat together on the cot in Leblanc's attic, a wistful look on her face as she gazed out at the snow drifting gently past the window.

Akira turned to her with a worried look, only part in jest. "This isn't the part where you tell me about the Lost Love you'll never forget, and who I can never be, is it?"

Despite her somber mood, Makoto managed a bit of a smile as she shook her head. "No. I told you, I only ever had one real crush before you, and he turned out to be an asshole." Her expression grew serious as she looked him in the eye. "You very nearly _became_ the Lost Love I could never forget."

Akira turned away with an uncomfortable nod. What could he say to that? She shook her head with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I know why you did what you did, and I've long since forgiven you. It's just... Christmas is a bit rough for me."

He gave her a look and softly rubbed her side, letting her know that he was there to listen, but wouldn't push her. She nestled closer to him. "Dad... well, it wasn't exactly near Christmas, it was more than a month before, but that didn't make much difference in the change from when he was there to when he wasn't. When I was young, it was the one time of the year where he would definitely be off work, so it was... pretty special. After... the first year I just remember how stressed Sis was, dealing with getting custody, and me... just crying in my room."

He tightened his arm gently around her, and gently nuzzled her hair with his cheek. She tightened her own arm around him and laid her head against his chest. "The first year was the worst, but Christmas was never the same after. Sis was... well, you know her well enough to know she isn't exactly the 'holiday cheer' type, especially when she was running herself ragged to support us. Christmas was just... a bleak reminder of everything we'd lost and could never get back. Seeing everyone who still had a family who loved them, everything broadcasting this expectation of universal happiness I couldn't share."

Her hand played across his chest, her finger slowly circling his heart. "When I found you, when we had saved the world, I felt like Christmas could finally mean something to me besides bitter loneliness. And then... you left me. At first, that morning... I wanted to die. It had all happened again, the one person I loved most was gone. I think I would have just curled up in a ball and waited for death, but Futaba needed me there with her, and Ryuji and Ann refused to give up without fighting like hell." She smiled faintly and wiped away a tear. "I don't know where we would all be without their optimism."

He pressed a sorrowful kiss to her hair. "It killed me, keeping it from you. Knowing it could be the last time I ever saw you, I just... wanted our last memory together to be seeing you happy, not both of us in despair for what I had to do. It's... selfish, but I don't think I could have lived with looking you in the eye and telling you. It hurt enough lying, but seeing your face when I broke my promise..."

She glanced up at him as he trailed off, then wiped a tear from his cheek and leaned up to kiss the spot. "You may have been right about that. If anything, seeing you and knowing I was about to lose you might have been worse." She closed her eyes with a sigh and cleared her thoughts. "But we made it. We're alive, and we're together. That's all in the past now, and there's nothing on Earth that will take you from me again." Her eyes narrowed in a dangerously serious glare. "I won't allow it."

He managed a bittersweet smile as he held her closer. "We made it."

She lay her head back on his chest with a sigh and snuggled up to him. "Do you think Haru will be alright? She's quite resilient, but without a family, Christmas is..."

He nodded and rubbed her side with a faint smirk. "Haru brought Ryuji back to her place, so I suspect the two of them have some plans for the evening."

She shook her head with a giggle. "I can't say I entirely understand... them, but they're both clearly happy, so who am I to judge?" One more glance up at him, then with a grin she tightened her grip on his shirt and pulled herself up to straddle his lap, smiling down at him with intensity in her eyes. "Speaking of plans for the evening..."

Outside, a general stillness had fallen with the soft blanket of snow on Tokyo, occasionally broken by the distant rumble of plows. The city, and all the life it held, stopped for a moment as though in remembrance of all that had been lost, and of all that remained. The snow fell like a million transient existences, flakes dancing together for a moment before they too became a part of the cold blanket of memory.

Inside, the living continued the celebration of life, bodies dancing together for a moment, before drifting to sleep in each other's arms and warmth, together joining the landscape of dreams. In the morning, they would awaken in each other's arms and warmth, and together continue the business of living.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be called "Last Christmas," but I hate that song and had a better idea.
> 
> Inspired by James Joyce's short story "The Dead". Read it, it's good. http://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/958/


End file.
